After walking straight forward about ten minutes, without giving himself the trouble to follow one of those innumerable paths that intersect the prairie in all directions, the hunter stopped, put the butt end of his gun to the ground, looked round carefully on all sides, lent his ear to those thousands of noises of the desert which all have a meaning for the man accustomed to a prairie life; and, probably satisfied with the result of his observations, he imitated, at three different equal intervals the cry of the pie, with such perfection, that several of those birds, concealed among the thickest of the trees, replied to him immediately. The third cry had scarcely ceased to vibrate in the air, ere the forest, mute till that moment, and apparently plunged in complete solitude, became animated as if by enchantment. On all sides arose, from the midst of bushes and grass, in which they had been concealed, a crowd of hunters with energetic countenances and picturesque costumes, who formed, in an instant, a dense crowd round the trapper. It chanced that the two first faces that caught the eye of Loyal Heart were those of Black Elk and Nô Eusebio, both posted at a few paces from him. "Oh!" he said, holding out his hand eagerly; "I understand it all, my friends. Thanks! a thousand thanks for your cordial coming; but, praise be to God! your succour is not necessary." "So much the better!" said Black Elk. "But how did you get out of the hands of those devilish redskins?" the old servant asked, eagerly. "Don't speak ill of the Comanches," Loyal Heart replied, with a smile; "they are now my brothers." "Do you speak seriously?" cried Black Elk, with warmth; "can you really be on good terms with the Indians?" "You shall judge for yourself. Peace is made between them and me, my friends. If agreeable to you, I will introduce you to each other." "By Heaven! at the present moment nothing could fall out more fortunately," said Black Elk; "and as you are free, we shall be able to concern ourselves for other people, who are, at this moment, in great peril, and stand in need of our immediate assistance." "What do you mean?" Loyal Heart asked, with a curiosity mingled with interest. "I mean, that some people to whom you have already rendered great services, on the occasion of the last fire in the prairie, are at this moment surrounded by a band of pirates, who will soon attack them, if they have not already done so. "We must fly to their assistance!" cried Loyal Heart, with an emotion he could not control. "Well, that was our intention; but we wished to deliver you first, Loyal Heart. You are the soul of our association; without you we should have done no good." "Thanks! my friends. But now, you see, I am free, so there is nothing to stop us; let us set forward immediately."